


Holby Come Dancing

by whythefujamievenonthis



Category: Holby City
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-01
Updated: 2018-01-01
Packaged: 2019-02-26 00:26:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13224363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whythefujamievenonthis/pseuds/whythefujamievenonthis
Summary: My Secret Santa likes Holby and Strictly Come Dancing, so I decided to combine the two.Jasmine in this is NOT Jasmine Burrows





	Holby Come Dancing

**Author's Note:**

> My Secret Santa likes Holby and Strictly Come Dancing, so I decided to combine the two.
> 
> Jasmine in this is NOT Jasmine Burrows

“You’ve got to be joking…”

 

“What’s wrong? It looks like fun!”

 

It really didn't. Not to Lofty. He’d been trying to avoid the poster that was pinned to the staff notice board for weeks, its bright, fun and sparkly design gave Lofty bad omens; he was just relieved (when he finally did read it) to know he didn’t have to participate. When he read that Holby Hospital staff were having a fundraiser “Holby’s Strictly Come Dancing” night at Albie’s, Dom was also in the staff room making a cup of tea, when the young Registrar saw the colour drain from Lofty’s face he was confused. In all honesty he was looking forward to it: of course no one would want to partner with him (Essie and Sacha had already teamed up), and Zosia only really wanted to dance with Ollie, but Dom smiled as he thought of seeing all the others clumsily dance around in the pub.

 

“Are you doing it Dom?”

 

“Nope, I don’t have a partner.” Replied Dom, who was smiling - but Lofty could see it was a sad smile.

 

“You want to do it?’

 

“Well yeah, I could do with a bit of fun.” Admitted Dom.

 

Lofty was quick to swallow his insecurity and come to Dom’s aid, “Well… If you, um, need a partner, I’m available.”

 

“You look like you hate the idea of it though.”

 

“Well I shouldn’t knock it when I haven’t tried it should I?”

 

“I suppose not… Alright Lofty, it looks like we’re partners!”

 

Lofty looked at Dom as he said that, his eyes glazed over as a warm smile washed onto his face, _partners -_ he liked the sound of that.

 

“Dance partners! I mean dance partners.” Corrected Dom, blushing as he spoke.

 

“Yeah… That’s all we are.” Replied Lofty, a grimace on his face, he practically felt a punch to the gut when he said those words. He wanted so much more with Dom then just being friends.

 

“Right, I best get back to work, but I’ll text you later on about rehearsing and all that.”

 

“Fab, let’s go then.” Agreed Lofty.

 

Dom’s mood seemed immediately perked up after Lofty offered to be his dance partner, he smiled happily as he treated his patients, and Essie was quick to notice. As Lofty walked past the main desk Essie stopped him to speak:

 

“He’s had a bit of a moral boost, what’s up with him.”

 

“He wants to do the Holby Strictly Come Dancing thing… I said I would be his partner for it.”

 

“Aw Lofty! That’s fab, no wonder he’s so excited!”

 

“Essie I can’t dance. Like at all.”

 

“Why’d you offer?”

 

“Because he looked like he really wanted to do it and he looked upset and sad he didn’t have a dance partner, and I wanted to make him happy so I said I would do it.”

 

“You’re too nice.”

 

“Not really. I just wanted to make him smile.”

 

“Awfully good of you Lofty, some would say romantic…”

 

“Don’t be daft, he doesn’t like me that way.”

 

“Sure he doesn’t.” Replied Essie, her eyebrow raised and her words lined with doubt, “Still, looks like we have a rivalry! With you teamed up with Dom, me and Sacha _might_ have to work a little harder.”

 

“Well, I’m sure you’ll win if Dom’s left trying to dance with me.”

 

“Optimism Lofty, have optimism.”

 

“Kinda hard to have when I have two left feet.”

 

After work Lofty went home, in no mood to drink, he just wanted to relax at home. When he got through his front door he sighed loudly, it seemed that his flat got bigger and bigger from the lack of company each day, and with no pets (besides the tabby that visited for tea every now and then) the young nurse felt utterly alone. His laptop was still on the living room coffee table from the previous night’s research and self given homework, bored out of his own skull Lofty decided to do some extra research - which came in the form of watching Strictly Come Dancing. He watched four episodes and all of their behind the scenes stuff as well as a lot of clips on youtube, by the end of watching it all he was even more panicky than before - there was no way in God’s green earth he’d ever be able to dance like _that._ Just as the last episode cut to the credits he received a call from Dom; surprised from the unexpected call Lofty (very flustered) picked up the phone immediately:

 

“Dom! Hi!”

 

“Hiya Lofty, what are your days off?”

 

“Umm, well I have the afternoon on Thursday, all day Friday.”

 

“Fab, I have all day Friday too! We can rehearse then right? My friend at the gym, she’s a dancer, she said she’d help us out.”  


“Right, yeah, okay, what time.”  


“Nine.”

 

“In the morning?”

 

“Yep! First day of practice is important!”

 

“Got it, right okay, nine it is then.”  


“Great, thank you Lofty, I’m so excited!”

 

“Haha, um, me too!”

 

When Thursday arrived Lofty was petrified, he revised all he could for the rehearsal but he still felt like he was going to embarrass Dom. He woke up at 7am to get ready: shower, dressed, small breakfast. He’d decided to go with a T-Shirt and sweatpants (as well as a pair of trainers) to wear for the rehearsal, but just because he looked ready didn’t mean he was; when texted him that morning the butterflies in his stomach were only amplified. He grabbed his bike and cycled over to the Gym where Dom and their new instructor was waiting, it wasn’t a long journey over, but when he arrived he was relieved to know he was still on time, early even! Once he locked up his bike in the Gym’s bike shed, he made his way inside where Dom was waiting for him.

 

“Hi Dom! Have you been waiting long?”

 

“Oh no not at all, you’re right on time, which is a relief.”

 

“Great, right then, should we head over to the instructor?”

 

“Yeah. Oh, I should mention, she’s a bit of a perfectionist so she’s gonna be brutal.”  


“Oh god.”

 

“No, no, no! Don’t worry about it, I’m sure everything will be fine.”

  
  


                                                                                   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  


The first thing they has to do was decide on a dance style and a song, to which neither of them had a clue. Thankfully their new teacher, named Jasmine, took one look at them and decided immediately:

 

“Foxtrot, Beauty and the Beast?” She suggested, her hair tied back, she looked serious and ready for business.

 

“I’m not being the beast.” Replied Dom.

 

“Then you can wear the dress.” Commented Lofty.

 

“Nope, we can get a suit ordered in time, a pale yellow colour; so it’s like her dress but not garish.”

 

“Sounds like a plan.” Smiled Dom, he then turned to Lofty and spoke, “Lofty, do you even know what a Foxtrot is?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Really?”

 

“I did some homework, I pretty much watched all the Strictly come dancing videos on youtube.”

 

“Oh, well thank you for caring so much.”

 

Jasmine coughed loudly to add herself back into the conversation, “Shall we make a start then?”

 

“How long are we practising for?” Asked Lofty

 

“Till four.” Replied Jasmine casually, as if several hours of dancing wasn’t that much.

 

“What?” Exclaimed Lofty, struck dumb by how long they’d be practicing for.

 

“The charity night is next thursday, we have less than a  week to get this together, we need all the practise time we can get, especially with our work schedules.” Explained Dom.

 

“Right, yeah of course.” Agreed Lofty as he got to the middle of the dance hall, Jasmine had pre-booked it for the pair as soon as Dom had asked for her help, if there was one thing she wanted to get out of helping them it was for them to win. Knowing it’d just be the three of them made Lofty relax a little, he didn’t want people watching him try to dance. Both knowing the start position, Dom and Lofty set themselves up to start whilst Jasmine pulled up the music on her phone, Dom could see Lofty looked incredibly nervous so tried to comfort him:

 

“Hey, everything is going to be fine. It’s just moving your feet to music. We can do this”

 

“Thank you Dom.” Smiled Lofty, now trying ignore his increased heart rate as well as his nerves.

 

For the next few hours Jasmine taught the pair all the basics and then some: whilst Lofty had to learn the male foot positions, Dom had to learn the female (since he’d be dancing as Belle); from hesitation turns to promenades and quarter turns, the pair worked long and hard on their routine. The dance itself only had to be two minutes or less (just like in the real show), but by midday they’d only confidently gotten down the first half the routine. With all the twists and twirls and spins and footwork, Lofty had fallen over numerous times, and as much as it seemed to frustrate the perfectionist inside Jasmine, both herself and Dom couldn’t help but love how Lofty always picked himself back up to continue the routine. When Jasmine had finally called their first break at midday, Dom and Lofty were too busy lying on the floor in exhaustion, out of breath and tired, but they were (at least) having a brilliant time:

 

“This…” Panted Lofty, “Has gone a lot better than expected.”

 

“It sure has.” Agreed Dom, smiling from ear to ear, “It’s good Albies is going to clear loads of seats and tables away for extra dance space.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“It’s also good they gave me a rough idea of how big the space is going to be.”

 

“Well now you’ve said that, having to dance in that rectangle that was taped on the floor makes a lot more sense.”

 

This sent Dom into a fit of laughter, “Ah, god I haven’t had this much fun in ages… Thank you for this.”

 

“No problem! I feel like I should be apologising though, you’d probably be doing better if you had a different partner.”

 

“Well unfortunately for you, you’re the only person I have to dance with.”

 

“Let’s just hope I don’t drop you in that lift then.”  


“That might be good yeah.” Laughed Dom, “Dancing isn’t something you’re really confident at is it?”

 

“Not at all.” Replied Lofty, “But, I’m not gonna deny it, it has been fun.”

 

As Lofty finished his sentence Jasmine came back in, rejuvenated and ready to continue the rehearsal, “Right you two, let’s get back to it.”

 

“We’ve been lying here for five minutes!” Exclaimed Lofty.

 

“Six and a half actually, come on, that charity event isn’t going to win itself.”

 

“Right then…” Muttered Lofty as he got himself off the floor, he saw Dom was too tired to get up to he helped the Registrar by pulling him to his feet, however when Dom was stood up he was incredibly close to Lofty. Dom let out a noise of surprise as his face met with Lofty’s, the pair looked at each other for a long while but neither pulled away. It was Jasmine who snapped the pair out of their intense staring contest.

 

“Right you two save the romance for the routine, we have work to do!”  


“Yeah, of course, yeah.” Mumbled Lofty, blushing profusely, “Sorry…”

 

For the rest of the day they practiced long and hard, it was always good having a professional teaching you, but it was bad for Lofty when he clearly struggled with the footwork and the timing and the gracefulness that was required for such a routine. Again and again he fell over, but continued to get back up, wiping away every blush of embarrassment along with his sweat. Once the rehearsal had come to an end, Dom and Lofty happily packed up together, chatting happily as they walked out of the gym to go their separate ways home.

 

“So you know to stay away from junk food? In order to keep your stamina up!”

 

“Yes Dominic I know, I’ll be good.” Smiled Lofty as he unlocked his bike from the gym’s bike shed, “Are you okay to get home?”

 

“Me? Yeah, I live like ten minutes away from here, I can walk.”

 

“I can take you home on my bike and save you the journey if you want.”

 

“It’s alright Lofty, thank you though.”

 

After their first practise and run through of their routine the pair were feeling very excited. Their next and final rehearsal would be the day before the charity event, it was the only day they were both off at the same time. In the meantime Dom and Lofty happily chatted away their working days together, watching Strictly videos together as Sacha and Essie watched from the sidelines - they kept quiet about how nervous they were becoming from the pair’s enthusiasm. As the days went by the outfits for the dance had been bought and were ready to go: Lofty’s “Beast” Costume consisted of a white long sleeve shirt, black skinny trousers with smart shoes and a royal blue velvet blazer (not to mention a black bowtie). For Dom his costume was similar; the only real difference was that he was wearing a plain, pastel yellow blazer instead. When the costumes had arrived the pair of them were ecstatic, Lofty had almost forgotten how nervous he was for the performance when Jasmine had sent pictures of them to Dom. Seeing Dom’s face practically glowing with happiness and excitement made it all worthwhile for Lofty.

 

Well, it did for a while at least.

 

As they were getting closer and closer to the night of the performance Dom became more and more on edge, it seemed only having one more practice had finally struck him and his nerves. Despite this Lofty tried his best to comfort the near panicking Registrar, managing to bring him back down to earth each time he over stressed about the routine. When Wednesday arrived, Lofty woke up already stressed - his alarm clock hadn’t gone off. He jumped out of bed and rushed to the shower, he speedily got washed and changed, and grabbed a cereal bar from the kitchen before grabbing his bike and rushing over to the Gym (which was a twenty minute bike ride away for him). But despite his speedily peddling, it didn’t stop him from running ten minutes late, he practically jumped off his bike without having breaked it first and hurriedly locked it in the bike shed. He rushed into the Gym and it’s reception to find Dom stood there - he looked agitated to say the least:

 

“Where the hell have you been?”

 

“My alarm didn’t go off, and then the traffic kept me back, and I nearly crashed on the way over, Dom I’m really sorry-”

 

“We’re running out of time Lofty. I don’t have time to listen to your excuses, now hurry up, Jasmine’s waiting.”

  
  
“Right… I am sorry Dom.”  


  
“Prove it during rehearsals.”

 

As if Lofty’s day couldn’t get any worse, the thought of performing to an audience with Dom in a mood with him and seemingly turned his legs to jelly; he couldn’t stop tripping up or getting the footwork wrong, turning left instead of right and visa versa. Despite Dom’s constant sighs of frustration and the occasional comment, Lofty eventually managed to dance the part of the routine they’d already learnt without making a mistake. That was until it was time to practice the lift. Lofty always hated having to lift Dom in the air: not because he was heavy, but because having to spin on the spot at the same time made him trip over his own feet and land the floor. Each time he felt like he was falling he would lower dom to the ground before hand so the Registrar wouldn’t get hurt, without realising this fact Dom had lost his patience:

 

“Lofty, it’s lifting me in the air for God’s sake.”  
  


“Dom, I’m trying, it’s difficult!”  
  


“Well try harder. I’m not losing this because you’re not strong enough to lift me into the air.”

 

“It’s not my fault I’m not good at this!”  


  
“We’ve been practicing all day! And focusing on it for the past forty minutes! But neither of these things have remotely improved your ability to do the most basic of routines.”

 

“Alright guys, let’s take it down a notch, it’s not that big a problem…” Said Jasmine, trying to calm the pair down.

 

“No Jasmine it’s not alright!” Replied Lofty, he then looked directly at Dom, “I don’t think you truly understand how nervous dancing makes me, how anxious and self conscious doing this makes me feel. You have no idea the amount of times I’ve wanted to give up every single time I’ve fallen to the floor. I signed myself up to this to make _you_ happy, not me, _you_.”

 

“Lofty…” Began Dom, guilt washing over him as he realised just how harsh and brash his words had been.

 

“Don’t _Lofty_ me. Dom I… I can’t do this anymore. I’m sick of this, I’m done trying if this is how you’re going to repay me.”

 

“Lofty don’t say that, please, I’m so sorry. I overreacted, I shouldn’t have yelled at you.”

 

“You’re right. You shouldn’t have yelled at me. Because you’ve just lost your dance partner.” Said Lofty, he looked at Dom for a long while after saying it: he didn’t look angry or frustrated, he just looked hurt.

 

After doing so (and filling Dom with guilt in the process), Lofty walked out of the dance room to get dressed and leave. Dom knew it was pointless to try and speak to him straight away, Dom knew he was in the wrong (not Lofty), so he just sighed and slumped up against the wall before burying his head into his knees. Jasmine, having been stood in the middle of the couple’s argument, eventually joined Dom on the floor to talk:

 

“You know, you really didn’t have to yell at him. You know for a fact he was trying his best.”

 

“I know, don’t remind me, I feel guilty enough.”

 

“And so you’re not going to apologise?”  
  


“After what I just did to him? After what I said? Jasmine, I don’t really deserve his forgiveness. Besides, I don’t even know what to say.”

 

“That you were wrong and messed up. That he didn’t deserve the verbal storm you just gave him? Get down on your hands and knees and beg for him to dance with you again.”

 

“Very funny…”  
  


“Right okay maybe that isn’t the best way to say sorry. But I can see you like him, I can see you like dancing with him.”

 

“And how you do see that? Most of the time I look in pain because he’s stepped on my foot.”

 

“Because despite when that happens, your eyes sparkle when you dance with him, and you have a big goofy grin on your face. You look really happy when you dance with him.”

 

“I’m happy when I’m with him full stop. I just can’t believe I did that to him… all because of a bloody dance.”

 

“Well, you best start thinking of a decent apology, because the competition is tomorrow. And the rivalry between you two and Essie and Sacha has really sparked some interest in the event.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Yeah, I checked the facebook page someone put up for it, loads of people are going tomorrow, loads of comments about being excited to see you and Lofty dance together and all.”

 

“Great…” Replied Dom sarcastically, “Looks like it’ll be a one man show.”

 

“Unless you try to apologise to him. I’ll leave you be once you do, but if you’re gonna give up without trying I’m not going to let you live it down.”

 

“Fine. I’ll talk to him.” Agreed Dom eventually, he and Jasmine sat on the floor for a long while before Dom spoke again, “Lofty’s probably gone by now, I should go get dressed and go home.”

 

“Wait!” Exclaimed Jasmine, an idea having come to her, “I have an idea, it might help to the convince him, come back to my place to pick it up! I’ll drive you to your place after.”

 

“What would you possibly have in mind?”

 

“You’ll find out when we get back to my house.”

 

“Right then. Let’s get a move on.”

  


                                     --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

The next day Dom and Lofty we back at work, they’d both be finishing at the same time, and they’d ended up having to work together on patients all day. Lofty tried to keep talking to a minimum, only accepting and responding to Dom’s words with nods of the head, and even then it was only when the topic was on treating their patient. Dom tried to speak to Lofty at every given opportunity, but Lofty was having none of it, it even got to the point where if Dom tried to speak to him Lofty would simply walk away. Essie and Sacha were shocked by this; as much as it meant they may not have so much competition for the charity event, the last thing they wanted to see was Dom and Lofty fighting with each other. After the third time Lofty walked away from Dom trying to speak to him, Essie (sat at the desk with Sacha) decided to stick her nose in and ask what was wrong:

 

“What’s up with Lofty? Pre show nerves?”

 

“There’s no show by the looks of it.” Replied Dom.

 

“What? Why?”

 

“I snapped at him yesterday. Gave him grief when he really didn’t deserve it. He’d had enough and went home. It’s all my fault.”  
  


“Apologise to him.” Suggested Sacha.

 

“That’s what I’m trying to do! But he’s having none of it unfortunately.” Replied Dom, looking as exasperated as he felt, “I just… I want to make things right again.”

 

There was a brief silence before Essie spoke again, “Well, if we were to, give you a little help in getting through to him. I would do it.”

 

“Me too.” Agreed Sacha.

 

“Really? You would? Guys that’d be amazing! How can I repay you?”

 

Sacha and Essie looked at each other before looking back and Dom and replying in unison: “Alcohol.”

 

“If you can get Lofty to speak to me, you can have all the alcohol I can afford to give you.” Replied Dom instantly, his heart swelling at the thought of being able to speak to Lofty again, at the thought of making amends and putting things right.

 

The rest of the day continued, and so did Lofty’s coldness towards Dom, it was obvious ignoring him was the last thing he wanted to do; but Lofty felt like it was the only option he had since all the others ended with him getting even more upset, or panicky that Dom would only yell at him again. Essie and Sacha tried to coax Lofty into speaking to DOm again but the nurse was having none of it, by the end of the day Essie and Sacha felt like they’d played all their cards, and for Dom it felt like a punch to the gut. As the young Registrar spoke to Essie and Sacha at the desk, the trio saw Lofty walk into the staff changing room (presumably to get changed and go home). As they all watched Lofty enter the room, a lightbulb went off inside Dom’s head, leaving him with an idea that him wanting to leap for joy.

 

“Sacha, Essie, I have an idea.”

 

“What is it?” Asked Sacha.

 

“I’m going to go in the staff changing room, and once I do, I then want you two to stand outside the door and stop him from leaving.”  
  


“Stop him from leaving?”

 

“Yes, I have something in there that I can show Lofty, and hopefully it’ll change his mind. And it’ll mean he’ll have to listen to me.”

 

“This sounds slightly illegal, keeping someone locked in a room against their will.” Commented Essie.

 

“Not locked - just forcibly shut. Besides, it’s the last idea we have.” Argued Dom, “Right, I’m going to head inside, I’ll need you two close by to keep that door shut.”

 

“Sir yes sir.” Responded Essie, doing a mock salute to Dom.

 

The trio left the desk and all walked over to the staff room, Dom looked at them one last time before heading inside the staff room where Lofty had just finished getting changed. Once he was inside Essie and Sacha kept to their word and stood by the door, blocking it, ensuring that nobody would be able to go in or out of the room.

 

“What’s going on?” Asked Lofty as he stood up from the bench, he made his way over to the door and tried to open it, but as they promised, Essie and Sacha stopped him from being able to open it, “Dom let me out.”

 

“Not till you listen to me.”

 

“Dom I said let me out.”

 

“And I said not until you listen to me.”

 

“Why should I listen to you?”

 

“So you can hear me apologise!”

 

This made Lofty pause, he and Dom stared at each other before he finally spoke again, “Alright. Fine. I’m listening.”

 

“Lofty, what I did- what I _said_ was terrible. I don’t expect you to accept this apology, I don’t expect anything to come of me saying this. But please understand just how bad I feel, I can’t believe what I did over a dance. I know you've been working hard, and I let my own worries get in the way of us - of what we have together. I’m so sorry Lofty.”  
  


Lofty pondered on his response to Dom’s words for a while, he didn’t know what to say: of course he wanted to be mad at Dom, but the young nurse couldn’t help but feel his heart melt at Dom’s apologetic words and eyes. Despite his previous frustrations, Lofty eventually allowed a smile to pass his lips; “Well, apology accepted.”

 

“Really?” Replied Dom, hope building in him at the thought of Lofty forgiving him.

 

“Definitely.” Replied Lofty with his usual boyish grin, “Although, I can’t be your dance partner can I? I mean, we don’t have our costumes and the charity event starts in an hour!”

 

“You’d be okay with dancing with me again?”

 

“Well yeah, as long as you’re okay with me standing on your toes from time to time. But like I said, we can’t, we don’t have the costumes.”

 

“Ay, don’t give up too quickly Lofty, I’m a man of many talents.”

 

“Oh really?”

 

“Really.” Confirmed Dom as he produced two clothes bags from the full length locker, they were the big clothes bags, the ones you put fancy and expensive suits and dresses in. Dom placed them on the changing room bench and unzipped the two bags to reveal the costumes.

 

“Why did you have them at work?”

 

“Jasmine thought they might help convince you to dance with me again, and if you did end up saying yes she thought it’d be easier to have them at work too.”

 

“Well, it’s a good thing that everything worked out.”

 

“It sure is.” Responded Dom as he handed Lofty his “Beast” costume for the routine, just as Lofty took the hanger from Dom’s hand and went to get changed into it he realised Sacha and Essie were still stood outside.

 

“Dom, would you um, tell them to go away? I don’t want them to see me get changed is all.”

 

“Oh, yeah, of course.” Agreed Dom, he made his way over to the door and banged on it with his hand to get their attention, the two guards spun around immediately, Dom signalled that it was okay for them to go. Sacha and Essie beamed with joy before sauntering off to get changed into their own costumes. Lofty and Dom were quick to change, despite being the last couple to dance, they needed to be at the pub to confirm they were definitely dancing (especially since Lofty had dropped out not long before). After getting changed they each put on their jackets to hide as much of their costumes as possible before heading down to Albie’s.

 

When they walked inside they saw the majority of the staff already inside, all impatiently waiting (with excitement) for the event to start, Lofty felt his stomach do flips when he saw Robyn and Max sat in the corner; they waved at him and each gave him a big thumbs up, which only really made him more nervous. The pair eventually found the large table filled with the other contestants: Jac and Fletch, Sacha and Essie, Bernie and Serena, and to Lofty’s surprise David and Dylan. Five pairs of contestants. Lofty and Dom definitely had their work cut out for them if any of them were good. As they sat down at the contestants table, laughing and chatting away their nerves with everyone else, Hanssen took to the karaoke stage to speak:

 

“Ladies and Gentlemen…” He said down the mic, grabbing everyone’s attention and silence, “Thank you. Now, as you know, from recent events we’ve all struggled, there’s no denying that. But this evening has lifted everyone’s spirits tremendously, thank you to everyone; not just the contestants but the patrons and drink buyers and staff.” A loud round of applause sounded from the pub of people, “So, without further ado, as the main judge alongside Mr and Mrs Valentine, I officially announce this Holby Come Dancing in full swing!”

 

Loud whoops and cheers would be heard from everyone again, including the contestants, but everything fell dead silent as Hanssen called up the first contestants; “So first on stage is Dylan and David.”

 

Their routine was… interesting to say the least. It was apparent their mash up of ballroom and quickstep fumbling was purely to relax the audience and make them laugh - and that’s exactly what they did. With David wearing a nice form fitting dress and Dylan wearing a suit and top hat, their recreating of “Cheek to Cheek” originally by Fred Astaire was less than perfect, but brilliant all the same. As they finished the routine they were met with an uproar of applause from everyone, Lofty was nearly in tears from laughing: watching Dylan dance deadpan next to David was too funny for him to contain himself! Oliver and Zosia awarded them 6’s and 7’s, whilst Hanssen gave them a very tough 5 - 18 points out of 30 in total.

 

“Next up, Bernie and Serena!”

 

Bernie and Serena were surprisingly good despite their ages, their romantic Viennese Waltz was energetic yet fun and enjoyable for the whole audience, their twists and turns and spins and footwork were all decent, unfortunately they were both so lost in each other's eyes that they fumbled at one point during the routine (Serena having stood on Bernie’s foot accidentally). Still, their marks were very good: Ollie and Zosia each awarding them 7 points, Hanssen (being the Simon Cowell of the judges table) giving them a tough 6 points. Still the pair were chuffed as they went back to the table with their 20 points, both even happier knowing they could start drinking now their routine was over, Bernie gave Serena a sweet kiss on the cheek as they began drinking.

 

“Jac and Fletch!”

 

Despite its intentions, their tango turned out to be very funny: with Jac leading Fletch and Fletch holding a red rose in his mouth, the audience was giggling the whole time, not that either of them minded, their routine was actually very good. Next to no mistakes were made as they danced away their routine, by the end of it the audience was completely enraptured, and there was a loud burst of applause as their routine finished with Fletch dramatically dying in Jac’s arms on the floor of the pub. They stood up and hugged each other happily, even happier when they received their scores: An 8 from Ollie, and 9 from Zosia, and a 7 from Hanssen - 24 points out of 30 in total. The pair were ecstatic as they headed back to the contestant’s table. All the routines and the lack of alcohol had made Lofty’s nerves go loose, and Dom could see he was beginning to panic:

 

“Lofty, everything will be fine. You’ve done brilliantly, we’ll do brilliantly together.”

 

But Lofty fell his guts twist as Hanseen call up Sacha and Essie the dance floor - it meant that him and Dom were next!

 

Essie and Sacha’s routine was really something else - it was stunning: despite the clear height difference they made it work, with Sacha (obviously) having to lead their routine, their classic Waltz was sweet and adorable. Audible _Aww_ ’s could be throughout the routine, even Dom and Lofty joined in at one point during the end as Sacha spun Essie gracefully and gently into the final pose, where they looked long into each other’s eyes - both clearly chuffed with their near perfect routine. As the music played out the three judges gave their scores: Ollies was a 9, Zosia’s was a nine and Hanssen’s was an 8 . The pair was thrilled as they stepped off stage, feeling like they were on top of the world Essie and Sacha spoke to Lofty and Dom:

 

“I dunno about you two but I smell gold for us.” Smirked Sacha.

 

“Better luck next time you two.” Joined in Essie.

 

“Don’t speak so soon.” Smiled Dom confidently, “We’re not giving up so quickly.”

 

As Dom finished his sentence Hanssen call them up, “And now ladies and gentlemen, the final pair of tonight’s Holby Come Dancing! Please give a warm round of applause to Benjamin and Dominic!”

 

“It’s Lofty.” Corrected Lofty quietly from the contestants table, which was met with chuckles from the rest of the audience. Lofty gave one last look of worry, which quickly melted into a  small smile when Dom looked right back at him (confidence burning in his eyes): “We can do this Lofty.”

 

“Yeah… Yeah we can.”

 

The pair got out of their chairs and took off their jackets (revealing their costumes) before they made their way to their starting positions on the dance floor, just before the music started they saw Jasmine in the far corner of the pub quietly taking shots of courage before giving them a slightly tipsy thumbs up and a smile.  The audience were left slightly confused, and humoured, the idea of Lofty Chiltern (the world’s clumsiest nurse) dancing was quite funny. Robyn and Max couldn’t help but join in on the laughs:

 

“Why’s Lofty dancing with a bloke?” Asked Max as he sipped his beer.

 

“I dunno, why’s he wearing that?”

 

“I dunno. You've gotta admit this is bound to be hilarious Robyn.”

 

“It probably will be yeah.” Replied Robyn.

 

When the music started up, smiles showed on the audience's faces as they remembered the famous tune, they soon realised why Dom and Lofty were dressed the way they were, and everyone heart’s secretly hoped they didn’t butcher the Disney Classic that was “Beauty and the Beast”. The routine started with Lofty In the centre of the floor, when the singing came in, so did Dom - his pastel yellow suit gentle on the eyes.

 

_Take as old as time, true as it can be…_

 

The pair joined together and began their Foxtrot, swaying and spinning and turning gently on the dance floor.

 

_Barely even friends, then somebody bends, unexpectedly…_

 

The pair couldn't help but smile as they looked into each other's eyes, it felt so right and normal. Lofty felt himself focusing on everything except the routine (the footwork and spins coming naturally), Dom felt himself focusing on Lofty. Everything felt perfect, almost unreal, for the audience it looked like a fairy tale romance  (which, in a way, it really was).

 

_Just a little change, small to say the least…_

 

Lofty felt himself lip syncing along to the lyrics as they sung through the pub speakers.

 

_Both a little scared, neither one prepared, Beauty and the Beast…_

 

Sacha and Essie felt their hearts melt as they watched the pair dance, even they had to admit it was a stunning piece of dancing, neither had made a single mistake and they could the the whole audience in the pub was spellbound by their routine.

 

_Bittersweet and strange, finding you can change, learning you were wrong..._

 

Max and Robyn were very quick to rethink their misconceptions about Lofty’s dancing ability, and they were both quick to notice just how happy Dom and Lofty looked together

 

_Certain as the sun, rising in the East..._

 

As the music built up, so did the routine, it was finally time for the lift that Lofty had come to dread.

 

_Tale as old as time, song as old as rhyme, Beauty and the Beast!_

 

The lift went off perfectly, and despite struggling to keep him up, Lofty was determined not to drop Dom till it was time to properly let him down to the floor. As he held Dom in the air he had to spin on the floor, and he eventually had to lower Dom back down in the process.

 

_Tale as old as time, song as old as rhyme, Beauty and the Beast!_

 

As gently as he could manage, Lofty lowered Dom to the floor, the pair of them looked proudly into each other’s eyes before Lofty went onto one knee (grabbing Dom by the hand and kissing it gently) to end the routine. As the music played out the audience went into an uproar of cheers and whoops and applause, everyone had underestimated the pair massively, and they were all proven wrong by their spectacular performance. Lofty stood up again and the two of them hugged each other tight, the warm feeling in each of their hearts made them feel drunk with joy. Eventually however, Hanssen and his pair of judges had to give their scores:

 

“I’m going to give it a 9.” Said Zosia, practically glowing at how happy Dom looked with Lofty.

 

“I am going to give the performance…. An 8!” Said Ollie. Loud hisses and boos could be heard from the audience and even the other contestants.

 

Knowing how tough Hanssen had been on scores the whole night, Dom and Lofty just looked at each other (feeling it wasn’t possible that they would win).

 

“Aww well.” Sighed Lofty, still looking happily into Dom’s eyes.

 

“We’ve tried our best, and that’s all we can do.” Smiled Dom not at all disappointed, in fact, he was incredibly proud. The pair turned to face the judges table again to hear Henrik’s score:

 

“I am awarding these two… 10 points.”

 

The pub was sent into an uproar at Hanssen’s score, at first Dom and Lofty didn’t hear him (or they believed they’d misheard him), so when everyone in the pub leapt to their feet and rushed at them with congratulations they didn’t quite know what was happening.

 

“Why’s everyone running at us?” Asked Lofty through the mob of people.

 

“You won! You two won the competition!” Cried Robyn, swamped by everyone who was taller than her (which was almost everyone).

 

“What?” Asked Lofty. 

 

“We won!” Cried Dom, “Oh my God Lofty we actually won!”

 

The pair of winners hugged each other tightly again, Jasmine would be seen in the background taking a congratulatory shot at the bar, Sacha and Essie stood on the sidelines smiling happily (although slightly miffed they lost by one point).  Once the pair separated from the hug they looked into each other's eyes again, only they each saw something completely different: it wasn’t pride, or nervousness, or joy - it was love. Instinctively the pair went in to kiss one another and neither were disappointed, in the middle of the crowd they kissed, and they didn’t care who was watching. Robyn and Max were slightly shocked, Max incredibly happy however:

 

“Ey, Robyn, remember that bet we made ages ago?”

 

Robyn pulled a five pound note from her pocket and handed it to Max, “Well at least I know that’s why I didn’t have a chance with him.” She added smiling.

 

Eventually Dom and Lofty pulled away from the kiss, each smiling happily, neither knowing what to say afterwards.

 

“So um…” Began Lofty, “Does that mean we’re?”

 

“Boyfriends?” Asked Dom, when Lofty nodded his head eagerly he continued, “Definitely.”

**Author's Note:**

> Here are links to the videos where i got inspirations for each of the dances!
> 
> Dylan and David’s dance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOYzFKizikU
> 
> Bernie and Serena’s Viennese Waltz: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0OGqmh45h0
> 
> Jac and Fletch’s Tango: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0OGqmh45h0
> 
> Essie and Sacha’s Classic Waltz: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jN4dXenlxbI
> 
> Dom and Lofty’s Foxtrot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtSwer4C-EQ


End file.
